The Oilers are 41 games into the season. Good time to see where the players are at on the team.
1. Taylor Hall. 14G-15A-29Pts -1. Prediction: Will lead the team in goals. Taylor Hall missed some time to a shoulder injury but is still in the mix for team leader in goals at 14. Eberle leads the team with 17. Should be a close race alll the way to the end of the year. Hall continues to be such a dynamic player.
2. Jordan Eberle. 17G-26A-43Pts +1. Prediction: Will score 25+ goals. He was behind the pace at the quarter pole, but now is way ahead of it. A knee injury may keep him out for some time, something should come out tomorrow on it. A superb 2nd quarter from him.
3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. 13G-22A-35Pts Even. Prediction: Will not get more than 30 points on the Oilers. So much for that prediction. He's sitting at 35 pts in 38 games and has been an offensive catalyst all year. Out the last few games with a shoulder injury.
4. Ryan Smyth. 15G-17A-32Pts +1. Prediction: Will score 20+ goals. Continues to be ahead of pace and 5 goals away from my prediction. Will have to go stonecold or get hurt in order not to make it.
5. Sam Gagner. 5G-15A-20Pts -2. Prediction: Leads team in assists. After saying this prediction had no legs at the quarter pole, its still a long shot at best with Eberle leading the team in apples with 26, but he has had a servicable 2nd quarter. He's at least pulling his weight. I still think he is prime trade bait.
6. Shawn Horcoff. 8G-14A-22Pts -14. Prediction: Will be a plus player(+/-). He's had a dreadful 2nd quarter to the year going -14 in those games. Part of it is on him and part of it is in his linemates and how Tom Renney is using him. Everything has gone wrong here. It's a long trek to get back to even.
7. Magnus Paajarvi. 0G-3A-3Pts -2. Prediction: Will play 82 games. Welp, this prediction is cooked. He was a healthy scratch early in the year and now is playing in OKC. I still think he's more important than more than half the forwards on this team but with the riff raff of forwards on the team now, its likely best for him to be in OKC. It's up to Tambellini to clean up the mess.
8. Ales Hemsky. 3G-11A-14Pts -6. Prediction: Will be traded by the trade deadline. I feel this prediction is inevitable now. Hemsky's fly by night play, him being in a contract year, and the Oilers struggling mightily when he is in the lineup, all adds up to Hemsky moving along before the trade deadline.
9. Eric Belanger. 1G-9A-10Pts -8. Prediction: Will score more SH goals than PP goals. This prediction is a turtle race. With only one goal this year, at even strength, this prediction could end up anywhere. Belanger has not been very good this year, offensively or defensively.
10. Ryan Jones. 12G-8A-20Pts -1. Prediction: Will score 15+ goals. Jones really cranked up the pace in the 2nd quarter scoring 9 goals in that time. Only 3 off the target. Valuable piece to the Oilers team.
11. Ben Eager. 4G-2A-6Pts -3. Prediction: Will get suspended at least once. Hasn't happened yet, but it may still be coming. Eager has ramped up the physical play over the last few games. His teammate Andy Sutton has been suspended twice, should saved that prediction for him.
12. Darcy Hordichuk. 0G-1A-1Pts -3. Prediction: Plays in 50+ games. This prediction is likely a dud. He has only played in 17 of the first 41 meaning he will have to at least play in 33 of the last 41 in order to make it. He's been only a 2-3 minute a night player for the majority of the games. If Tom Renney doesn't trust him, why have him around?
13. Linus Omark. 0G-0A-0Pts -2. Prediction: Will have the worst plus/minus on the team. The Oilers beat me to this prediction by putting him in OKC early on this year. Omark didn't have enough time to do damage to his plus/minus. Shawn Horcoff is the clubhouse leader at -14.
14. Gilbert Brule. 0G-0A-0Pts Even. Prediction: Will not end the year with the Oilers. Brule's year never got off the ground with the Oilers as he didn't make the team out of training camp. I'd be surprised if he got a callup at any point this season.
15. Anton Lander. 1G-3A-4Pts -3. Prediction: Will be in the lineup opening night. Welp, got this one right, the question is, how long before he gets sent down? He has hit that wall that every rookie runs into. Its where effort meets statistics. He needs to find a way to contribute offensively while maintaining a high level of compete.
16. Teemu Hartikainen. 0G-0A-0Pts -4. Prediction: Plays in 40+ games for the Oilers. This prediction is likely a dud. Just got a 3 game look and was -4 in those games and was promptly set back to OKC. Plays hard, but was pretty ineffective in those 3 games.
17. Curtis Hamilton. 0G-0A-0Pts Even. Prediction: Plays at least one game for the Oilers this year. I think this one will only come true if the Oilers are out of the playoff race by March. There are many ahead in the pecking order for OKC for him to get a look.
18. Tyler Pitlick. 0G-0A-0Pts Even. Prediction: Plays at least one game for the Oilers this year. Same as Hamilton.
19. Ryan Whitney. 0G-3A-3Pts -6. Prediction: Has the highest plus/minus on the team. I think this is another prediction that is cooked. He's played in only played in 17 game so far this season, is -6 and now there is talk he may be shutdown for the year. Tough luck for Whitney.
20. Tom Gilbert. 3G-12A-12Pts -2. Prediction: Will be 2nd on the team in defenceman points. This prediction could go any which way. Gilbert is currently the Dman leader in points with 15, one up on Corey Potter. With Whitney out of the picture, its pretty much up on Potter to pass him. Gilbert is also currently out with a knee injury.
21. Ladislav Smid. 3G-4A-7Pts -3. Prediction: Will be a healthy scratch at least once this season. Smid has stabilized as an NHL Dman for the time being. He and Gilbert has formed the top Pairing that plays the tough competition. I don't think he will have to worry about being a healthy scratch. If he's healthy he'll play.
22. Cam Barker. 1G-0A-1Pts +3. Prediction: More than 50% of his goals will be on the PP. He has one goal and it was on the power play. Doesn't really mean a lot. He is out until March with his current injury.
23. Andy Sutton. 2G-4A-6Pts +3. Prediction: Will have more than 100 PIMS. He is a 50 PIMS right now and that includes being suspended for 13 games over two separate incidents. He is sitting exactly half way, could go either way.
24. Theo Peckham. 1G-2A-3Pts +3. Prediction: Will play more games than Ladislav Smid. Peckham has only played 37 games while Smid has played all 41 games. It will be tough for Peckham to catch up while he tries to survive staying out of the pressbox while Smid is playing at the top of the lineup. I think injury will only save me in this prediction.
25. Jeff Petry. 1G-6A-7Pts -8. Prediction: Will be in the lineup opening night. Petry made opening night, but then got a stint in OKC, but now is back up with the big club. Petry's game has been up and down this season, but as long the team is decimated with injury on the back end, he'll be with the big club.
26. Corey Potter. 3G-11A-14Pts -10. Prediction: Will play in 10+ games for the Oilers. Welp, that was easy. Who knew much of anything about Corey Potter, I knew the opportunity would be there, but he's taken the ball and ran with it. Playing heavy minutes is starting to catch up with as he start to play with minus double digits. Should be a bottom pairing Dman but is forced up the lineup. He's played in 27 games this season.
27. Taylor Chorney. 0G-0A-0Pts -2. Prediction: Doesn't play in any games for the Oilers. Welp, this prediction is done. Chorney played in 2 games this year, much to the chagrin of every Oilers fan.
28. Colten Teubert. 0G-1A-1Pts -1. Prediction: Plays in 5+ games for the Oilers. He's got in 14 games this year. has been the emergency recall guy when Dmen have gone down. He'll continue to be that guy.
29. Nikolai Khabibulin. 2.36GAA .920S%. Prediction: Plays at least one game for OKC. I doubt this is happening, although he has cooled off significantly after a piping hot start. Wonder if there is any trade value here.
30. Devan Dubnyk. 3.15GAA .900S%. Prediction: Will post under .900 Save Percentage. Dubnyk is teetering on the brink of getting kicked off the .900 ledge. Dubnyk's play has been spotty at best over the 2nd quarter. Still think he is a career backup at best.
31. Yann Danis. 0.00GAA .000S%. Prediction: Plays more games than Khabibulin or Dubnyk with the Oilers. This isn't happening although Yann Danis has had a real solid year for OKC, solid enough to get him an a trip to the AHL all star game.
32. Olivier Roy. 0.00GAA .000S%. Prediction: Doesn't play a game with the Oilers this season. Since he is playing in Stockton, I figure this one is pretty safe for the year. The Oilers would have to go through 4 goaltenders to get a look this year.
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